Egypt's Morsi says gov't reshuffle not to be swayed by opposition pressure

CAIRO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Saturday reaffirmed that a cabinet reshuffle will come soon but it will not be swayed by any opposition pressure.

"I am planning now for another reshuffle," Morsi told pan-Arab Al Jazeera TV, noting that the common interest of the Egyptian people would be the basic criteria for the reshuffle.

Cabinet reshuffle has been one of the major demands of the National Salvation Front. The main opposition bloc also demands sacking current Prosecutor-General Talaat Ibrahim Abdullah and amending controversial articles of the newly-written constitution.

The reshuffle will change several cabinet members to achieve the common good, said the Egyptian president, leaving out whether or not Prime Minister Hesham Qandil will be replaced.

Commenting on Egypt's bid for a loan of 4.8 billion U.S. dollars from the International Monetary Fund, Morsi said that Egypt did not fail to get the loan and that negotiations are still going on.

"We do not yield to internal or external conditions," Morsi said, noting that borrowing was "a very transient stage that will not last for long."

As for the recent anti-judiciary protests held by his Islamist supporters, Morsi expressed full respect for the judicial system, adding that the public had "legitimate concerns about judiciary after a series of acquittals of ex-regime officials."

"Basically, judges are honorable and the judicial rulings are respected, yet there are some judges who deviate from the right track," Morsi continued.

On Friday, thousands of Morsi's supporters rallied outside the Supreme Courthouse in downtown Cairo, calling for purging the " corrupt judiciary," after the recent acquittals of ex-officials who worked under former President Hosni Mubarak and the adjournment of the retrial of Mubarak.

While Islamists accuse judiciary of corruption, the opposition, mainly liberals and leftists, accuse Islamists of attempting to tailor the judiciary to serve their interests.

During Friday's protests, clashes broke out after dozens of masked men in black, likely members of the riotous Black Bloc, set fire to a bus belonging to the Islamists, leaving at least 115 injured.

The Islamist-oriented Egyptian president underlined that "there is no relation between the Muslim Brotherhood and the presidency in terms of decision-making."

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